Tartuffe

Tartuffe was a 17th-century French criminal who pretended to be a religious devotee in order to swindle a nobleman into signing over all of his worldly possessions to him, as well as to seduce the nobleman's wife. He was ultimately arrested after King Louis XIV of France discovered his fraud.

Biography
The man known as "Tartuffe" had a long criminal history, and he often changed his name to avoid being caught. In 1664, Tartuffe, a vagrant posing as a pious Catholic devotee, was taken in by the Parisian nobleman Orgon and his family. Orgon and his mother Madame Pernelle fell under Tartuffe's influence, as he claimed to speak with divine authority, although he was hypocritical and was a deviant. Tartuffe's act as a holy man swayed Orgon and his mother, and Orgon entrusted him with a box of incriminating letters. Orgon's family saw through the plot, and they were angered when Orgon decided to have his daughter Mariane break her betrothal to Valere and marry Tartuffe instead. The family planned to catch Tartuffe confessing his desire for Orgon's wife Elmire, but his attempt at seduction was interrupted when Orgon's son Damis jumped out of his hiding place to denounce Tartuffe. Orgon believed that Damis was lying, and he banished him from the house before signing over all of his worldly possessions to Tartuffe as a punishment for Damis and as a gift to Tartuffe. Later, Elmire arranged for another meeting with Tartuffe, and Orgon overheard Tartuffe's advances and ordered him out of the house. However, Tartuffe revealed the incriminating box and told Orgon that it was he who would have to leave; Tartuffe had become the owner of the house after Orgon signed it over. Even Madame Pernelle became convinced of Tartuffe's duplicity, despite having been one of his closest followers at first. Tartuffe then ordered Orgon's arrest for treason, but the officer arrested Tartuffe instead, as King Louis XIV of France was appalled by Tartuffe's betrayal of Orgon. Tartuffe was also revealed to have been a criminal, and the deed that gave Tartuffe all of Orgon's possessions was invalidated. Orgon then oversaw the marriage of Mariane to her original betrothed, Valere.